The State of the Wicket – February
Now, we’ve been getting a lot of mail, Facebook comments, tweets, and so on, asking about the status of Book Eight, the short stories, etc. So I thought I’d give you a quick run-down of what-all I’ve been doing, where it all is at the moment, a short peek at everything, and—most importantly [g]—when things will be published.
For starters, I’m very pleased to announce that The Scottish Prisoner was released on November 29th, 2011. This release also includes a “teaser” chunk from Written in My Own Heart’s Blood (aka Book Eight, or MOHB (aka “Moby,” which is how I refer to it for convenience. I don’t _think_ it will be white, but it will certainly be a whale of a book [cough]). The teaser includes several scenes about different characters.
Now, I do normally work on multiple projects at once; it keeps me from getting writer’s block, and makes me generally more productive. I also think it’s entertaining to write the occasional short piece (novella or short story) that fills in a missing part of someone’s story and/or provides more depth to the overall tale.
The most recent of these short pieces to be published was “Lord John and the Plague of Zombies,” which was published last October—and which gratified me extremely by recently being nominated for an Edgar Award (for best mystery short story of the year—though it’s not all that short, really…)—in an anthology titled DOWN THESE STRANGE STREETS. The anthology is edited by George RR Martin and Gardner Dozois. http://tinyurl.com/Plague-Zombies
I’m presently writing a short story for another anthology (this one titled DANGEROUS WOMEN)—the story is called “Virgins,” and is about Jamie and his not-yet-brother-in-law Ian, as very young mercenaries in France. I don’t have a pub date for this anthology yet, but expect it will be out sometime later this year. I do post occasional brief snippets from “Virgins” (as well as other works-in-progress) on my Facebook page, at www.facebook.com/AuthorDianaGabaldon.
OK– on to Book Eight, which is probably what most people want to know about.
1) WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART’S BLOOD is the eighth volume in the main Outlander series. (It’s the sequel to AN ECHO IN THE BONE, where allll the cliffhangers will be picked up. [g])
2) I don’t know yet if WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART’S BLOOD is the last book in this series!!
3) I am still writing WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART’S BLOOD!!!
A) I hasten to say that most of the mail I get is wonderful, and Much Appreciated! However, I do get a small amount of idiotic email accusing me of having already finished the book, but “hiding” it from the readers, or keeping it off the market “just to be mean” or (of all insane notions) “to drive the price up.” (It ain’t pork bellies, people; the cover price is the same whenever it comes out, and I don’t set it.) I don’t mean to be impolite here, but…geez, guys.
i) Look. Books are
a) written in order to be read, and
b) published in order to make money.
ii) Publishers do not make money from books that are not in bookstores. Ergo….
iii) Publishers want to sell books as soon as the books are ready.
iv) So do authors. What do you think I live on, while I’m supposedly keeping a book off the market to be mean? And why do you think I’d want to be mean to the people who read my books? Sheesh.
4) Right. Now, I hope to finish writing the book around the end of this year.
OK, pay close attention now….
5) The book will not—repeat not—REPEAT NOT!!!—be published on December 31st, even if I finish writing it on December 30th. Why not? Well, because…
A) Books don’t go directly from the author to the bookstore.
B) Books go from the author to the Editor, who
i) reads the manuscript
ii) discusses the manuscript with the author, and
iii) suggests minor revisions that may improve the book
C) The book goes back to the author, who
i) re-reads the manuscript
ii) considers the editor’s comments, and
iii) makes whatever revisions, emendments, or clarifications seem right.
D) The book goes back to the editor, who
i) reads it again
ii) asks any questions that seem necessary, and
iii) sends it to
E) The copy-editor. This is a person whose thankless job is to
i) read the manuscript one…word…at…a…time
ii) find typos or errors in grammar, punctuation, or continuity (one heck of a job, considering the size not only of the individual books, but of the overall series), and
iii) write queries to the author regarding anything questionable, whereupon
F) The book comes back to the author—yes, again—who
i) re-reads the manuscript
ii) answers the copy-editor’s queries, and
iii) alters anything that the copy-editor has changed that the author disagrees with. After which, the author sends it back to
G) The editor—yes, again!—who
i) re-re-reads it
ii) checks that all the copy-editor’s queries have been answered, and sends it to
H) The Typesetter, who sets the manuscript in type, according to the format laid out by
I) The Book-Designer, who
i) decides on the layout of the pages (margins, gutters, headers or footers, page number placement)
ii) chooses a suitable and attractive typeface
iii) decides on the size of the font
iv) chooses or commissions any incidental artwork (endpapers, maps, dingbats—these are the little gizmos that divide chunks of text, but that aren’t chapter or section headings)
v) Designs chapter and Section headings, with artwork, and consults with the
J) Cover Artist, who (reasonably enough) designs or draws or paints or Photo-Shops the cover art, which is then sent to
K) The Printer, who prints the dust-jackets–which include not only the cover art and the author’s photograph and bio, but also “flap copy,” which may be written by either the editor or the author, but is then usually messed about with by
L) The Marketing Department, whose thankless task is to try to figure out how best to sell a book that can’t reasonably be described in terms of any known genre [g], to which end, they
i) try to provide seductive and appealing cover copy to the book
ii) compose advertisements for the book
iii) decide where such advertisements might be most effective (periodicals, newspapers, book-review sections, radio, TV, Facebook, Web)
iv) try to think up novel and entertaining means of promotion, such as having the author appear on Second Life to do a virtual reading, or sending copies of the book to the armed troops in Iraq, or booking the author to appear on Martha Stewart or Emiril Lagasse’s cooking show to demonstrate recipes for unusual foods mentioned in the book.
vi) kill a pigeon in Times Square and examine the entrails in order to determine the most advantageous publishing date for the book.
M) OK. The manuscript itself comes back from the typesetter, is looked at (again) by the editor, and sent back to the author (again! As my husband says, “to a writer, ‘finished’ is a relative concept.”), who anxiously proof-reads the galleys (these are the typeset sheets of the book; they look just like the printed book’s pages, but are not bound), because this is the very last chance to change anything. Meanwhile
N) A number of copies of the galley-proofs are bound—in very cheap plain covers—and sent to
O) The Reviewers. i.e., the bound galleys are sent (by the marketing people, the editor, and/or the author) to the book editors of all major newspapers and periodicals, and to any specialty publication to whom this book might possibly appeal, in hopes of getting preliminary reviews, from which cover quotes can be culled, and/or drumming up name recognition and excitement prior to publication. Frankly, they don’t always bother with this step with my books, because they are in a rush to get them into the bookstores, and it takes several months’ lead-time to get reviews sufficiently prior to publication that they can be quoted on the cover.
P) With luck, the author finds 99.99% of all errors in the galleys (you’re never going to find all of them; the process is asymptotic), and returns the corrected manuscript (for the last time, [pant, puff, gasp, wheeze]) to the editor, who sends it to
(1. The ebook coding happens somewhere in here.)
Q) The Printer, who prints lots of copies (“the print-run” means how many copies) of the “guts” of the book—the actual inside text. These are then shipped to
R) The Bindery, where the guts are bound into their covers, equipped with dust-jackets, and shipped to
S) The Distributors. There are a number of companies—Ingram, and Baker and Taylor, are the largest, but there are a number of smaller ones—whose business is shipping, distributing, and warehousing books. The publisher also ships directly to
T) The Bookstores, but bookstores can only house a limited number of books. Therefore, they draw on distributors’ warehouses to resupply a title that’s selling briskly, because it takes much longer to order directly from the publisher. And at this point, [sigh]…the book finally reaches
U) You, the reader.
And we do hope you like it when you get it—because we sure-God went to a lot of trouble to make it for you. [g]
6) As it happens, Random House (who publishes my books in the US and Canada) prefers to publish my titles in the Fall quarter (between September 1 and December 31). That’s because this is traditionally the biggest sales period in the year, what with the run-up to Christmas, and therefore all the publishers normally release their “big” titles in the Fall. I’m flattered to be among them.
However, if I do finish the manuscript around the end of this year, Random House (and the UK publisher, Orion, and the German publisher, Blanvalet) _may_ decide to release the book earlier in 2013. They probably won’t set a pub date until I deliver the manuscript—which I _HOPE_ (no guarantees, mind you. Stuff Happens) to finish by the end of 2012.
(The other foreign editions—I think we’re now up to 29 countries, including Israel, Croatia, Russia, Greece, and Korea, which is pretty cool—will be out whenever their respective editors and translators finish their production processes, but I’m afraid I can’t predict that at all.)
So—that’s why the English and German-speaking readers will almost certainly get Written in My Own Heart’s Blood _sometime_ in 2013.
When I have a specific publication date, rest assured—I’ll tell you. (Webmaster’s note: WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART’S BLOOD has an official publisher release date of June 10, 2014.)
[Amended to add that the photo above is of me sitting down to a well-earned glass of wine at the end of all this...no, really, it's of me at a dinner at Culloden House last summer. Thanks to Judy Lowstuter, who took it!]
Poor pigeon. What a hoot- thanks for the entertaining diagram of the process and yes, you have all the patience I can spare to share.
Are you sure it’s a pigeon, not a chicken?
There aren’t many chickens in NYC. Its much easier to just kill the pigeon.
Isn’t it fun to deal with the irrational people who think there is no time between “The End” and when the book hits their door step. *sigh*
Also, who needs a last book. I could read about Jamie, Claire and their family past or present forever.
Wow. Wow. I’m amazed (well, maybe I’m not really amazed) by people who would make an assumption that you are “hiding” the book. It must have been enough people to force you to give a dissertation on where the book is at present (ha, ha). I like to savor a good book, and therefore, am willing to wait as long as possible for such a book. I loved The Scottish Prisoner. In the meantime, and at your suggestion, I’ve begun the Merrily Watkins series by Phil Rickman. I’m very much enjoying Wine of Angels. And I will wait patiently…because as your Facebook followers know, it will be worth it.
They are probably the same people who think we are hiding the good stuff from a sales ad in the back room of the store so they can’t buy it…seriously…we get it in to SELL it, we WANT IT GONE…lol
So true, Trish. Some people never believe you. When I had a bookstore, I sometimes used to go to the back of the store to pretend to “look” for something when people didn’t believe me. I’d say hi to someone back there, have a sip of coffee….;)
And that is why the Daily Lines are so important! Thank you for giving us little bits of joy with your nightly lines!
Wow…and I thought my comment e-mail was bad when I rambled on about my Scottish ancestry. I’ve almost finished “An Echo in the Bone” but reading this series is like watching a very in-depth movie. Sometimes you have to go back and watch it over again because not everything sinks in fully the first time. I am definitely going to reread the series after book seven.
Remember, the same people who are pressuring you to finish MOHB are the same people who will be the first to complain if MOHB does not meet their expectations after you rushed it for them even though they are the ones who pressured you in the first place. I hope that made sense. So please take your time. It is worth the wait.
Thank you! It’s exhausting just to read all that.
Karen
I think you ought to make your explanations into a book, titled “How My Own Book Gets Published”. I will not be surprised if it turns out to be an instant bestseller for you. I know I am being silly to say so.
Never mind those small Idiots, they are just being selfish. You just keep doing what you have always done, yes all that back and forth, and a thousand words to be re-read or re-write, be it once or twice or thrice or a million times till it’s published. So to those who cannot wait – be of good courage and wait on the next book!
I agree with that thought, Rita N!!! Diana, you are so entertaining in whatever media/forum. Just reading your posts keeps us entertained. You just be your creative self, and we’ll just continue to be your “verra faithful” readers!
P.S. > Glad to see the “alllll the cliffhangers will be picked up.” I have a notebook full of them, so it’ll be nice to have those resolved!
Speaking of cliffhangers, anyone want to guess which parent shows up to get Jem? How about whether it’s Bree, Roger, William B. MacKenzie, or Jem himself that punches and/or kicks that co-worker of Bree’s? Since the Jerk had just gotten Bree, I think she’s going to do a number on him, and possibly Jem if he sees an opening.
I can’t believe people say you’re mean. Thanks for all your books! Thanks for writing them and sharing them with us to read. I love them!! You are very nice.
Thank you for detailing all the things that go into getting a book published. It is very enlightening. I am with several of the others here in that I don’t want to even think about a LAST BOOK. I am about to enter the seventh decade of my life and I have read a lot of series before but none can compare to yours. Since I started the Outlander series and have reread it many times, there are always details that I missed the other times. I have all the books in hardback including the 20th Anniversary edition, and I have them all on my Kindle so I can take them all with me wherever I go. ha
Thank you again for these books. They are wonderful. I do read other books but I am always glad to come back to read more of Jamie and Claire. Whenever MOHB comes out, it will be an event to remember and read again, and again, and again!!!
Linda
It’s been said many times already, but WOW. I now have even more respect for the insanely large number of people involved in getting your fabulous books to the shelves for us rabid readers. Much as I cannot wait to read the next instalment of Jamie and Claire, and Roger and Brianna of course, I will be patient and bide my time reading other things, knowing (as I have known for some time, because you have mentioned it before), that it will be out some time next year. Thank you thank you thank you for being such a phenomenal author, and please do consider coming to New Zealand again some time, as sadly I have missed your previous visits. I know we’re very far away from everyone else, and tiny besides, but believe me when I say there are plenty of your fans here!!
I may just throw a hand-knitted shawl your way, as I am known to do when in the presence of famous authors (twice so far. And yes, I mean throw – I get nervous and make an idiot of myself, gibbering nonsense while waving the hand knitted gift). I’ve been practicing for the day I get to meet you in person
Having met you now twice Diana, I can assure people you are definitely Not Mean. *g* But you sure are funny.
Diana, the wait will be excruciating, but I know it will be well worth it. I read the entire series in a month, leaving me breathless and anxious for the next book. I would be fine if you never ended the series, I have enjoyed them so much. I will content myself with reading Outlander again. This is a huge compliment, as I have NEVER re-read a book. There are just too many books out there to be read that reading one I’ve already enjoyed seems absurd. But Outlander is the best love adventure story I’ve encountered. I don’t want to just read, I want to be taken away. I want to live in another world. I want to believe a book. You write girl…because you rock. I’ll be waiting just as Jamie would for Claire.
The genre question has been solved at my local B&N by giving Diana her own separate shelf.
I WISH they would give her a separate shelf here! Even in Diana Gabaldon’s hometown, Flagstaff, they have her relegated to the romance section. They’re so much more than just romance novels!
Dear Alyssa–
Which bookstore? If it’s Hastings, I’ll have a word with them next time I’m up. (B&N supposedly works off a corporate model, and their corporate model says I’m “Fiction.” [g])
–Diana
When I search the internet I always thought to look under historical fiction, which seems to be a good genre to put it in. Now that I know when the book comes out, I know I’ll have time to read the whole series again to catch up on things! I’ve only done a repeat read of a series one other time, so that’s how completely awesome I believe this one to be. Keep up the good work, Diana!
I live in Oxford (England) and once found a copy of Cross Stitch (which is how Outlander was named here) in a children’s bookshop! I quickly removed it and showed the assistant a few examples of why it was not suitable for that age range!
Dear Julie–
[snort] [g] I’ve actually had more than one letter from a UK reader saying, “There’s a funny story about how I found your book. I was in my local bookshop, browsing in the Needlecrafts section….”
–Diana
That’s the ticket!
LOL!!
Fiction, Non-Fiction or Gabaldon!
Thank you so much for all your updates, daily lines etc… and I do hope you get heaps of inspiration throughout this year for all your projects. Your most loyal fan x
I wish I had the job of copy editor – I’d be SO good at it! A) being a Scot. B) retired teacher/librarian and C) I know all the previous book so well! Love yer work! We’re in no hurry cos we can’t contemplate the journey with J & C ever having to come to an end which it will some day! *sigh*
Lallyhugs xxx
Kate
OK. Will wait patiently. I don’t think people with such mean comments regarding the next book’s publication deserve a reply.
Didn’t know Israel was one of the foreign publication spots. I will continue reading in English although I have to get at least one copy of any edition just to see how Jamie’s Gaelic expressions get translated into Hebrew.
Did you know that natural redheads are most prominent among the Scottish people and Jewish people of Russian descent. The result being quite a lot of redheaded Israelis.
The picture of you with the wine is beautiful.
Thanks for the up date… as I used to tell a very dear friend of mine patience is a virture
Couldn’t agree more, waiting is part of the fun! wondering what’s going to happen.. and these books are def. worth waiting for and not churned out two-a-penny but someone else, with the authors named splashed front and centre… these are the real thing! thanks to Diana for ALL her hard work, and detailed explaining of the process let’s let her be so she can write!!! (and drink wine…)
Karen from the UK
I second Sandra Barry’comment up there, and I’m shock that people talk to you that way Diana and found it sad in a way, that you have to explain in detail all the work you’ve been doing behind a book. Don’t mine them. You’ve have lots of votes. The wait will be worthwhile I’m sure. P.s. I’M French, so excuse my English.
“kill a pigeon in Times Square and examine the entrails in order to determine the most advantageous publishing date for the book.” LMAO!!!
You just take all the time you need. I’m exhausted just reading about it! Fwewww!